McDonalds Victoria Point and Cleveland owner Steven Morris is putting his money where his mouth is when he takes on the Chain Reaction cycling challenge in New Zealand.
Mr Morris left on March 2 to tackle the 1000km journey from Christchurch to Queenstown to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and AEIOU.
This will be his third year doing the ride, which he describes as an incredible and gruelling experience.
“It’s a great way to support charities who truly need our help,” he said.
With three children of his own aged five, three and one, Mr Morris said this was his way of giving back to children who weren’t so lucky.
“I have been a licensee for the past eight years and I have seen some of these chidlren first hand. It’s heart breaking. This is my way of giving to families who need it most,” he said.
In training for the ride, Mr Morris said he and the other riders trained three times a week, on one day doing laps and learning the technical aspects of riding on the road, another riding the hills at Mount Coot-tha and doing three to five hour ride on the weekend.
“We are well prepared, but we wouldn’t be if we didn’t do the training,” he said.
Mr Morris said along the way, he had also made friends among the other riders.
“I am very proud, honoured and humbled to be able to raise a massive amount of money for sick children and their families in their time of need.”
Chain Reaction is a long distance cycling event for senior executives with a passion for cycling to raise money for sick children. This year six teams will tackle the ride. Since its first ride in 2007 Chain Reaction has raised $23,288,483 on behalf of its charity partners. This year, the Queensland teams participating are aiming to raise $1.2 million.
Donations can be made on chain-reaction.org.au/fundraisers/stevenmorris/qld-ride-2018
